Maryland state lawmakers want to cut off NSA data center resources

Feb. 12, 2014 - 06:00AM
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Some Maryland lawmakers want to cut off power and water for NSA's Fort Meade facilities. (GSA photo)

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A group of eight Maryland state lawmakers introduced legislation to cut off water and electricity to the National Security Agency headquarters at Fort Meade in order to prevent the collection of personal information.

The lawmakers introduced the Fourth Amendment Protection Act Feb. 6 that targets data center operations at Fort Meade, which require massive amounts of water and electricity to operate.

Maryland State Delegate Michael Smigiel, one of the billís sponsors, said that the state needed to stop cooperating with the agency for what he characterized as illegal mass-surveillance.

Similar bills have been introduced in other states, including California, Arizona and Utah but have been met with resistance and have little chance of becoming law.